


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Frank and Sable

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, Implied/Referenced Animal Violence, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-24 01:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18159794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: The litter Natasha was hoping to get Luke’s dog from doesn’t work out. None of the pups turn out to be good candidates, so Natasha contacts another breeder that should have puppies in about eight months, and arranges to look at their pups when it's time. Until then, there’s not much she can do about Luke’s dog. Frank, however…Frank spent almost the entire while Sable was recovering by the dog’s side, waiting for her to feel better. When she woke up the first time, she had whined until Frank started petting her, and for the first few weeks after that, she would cry whenever Frank wasn’t in the room.





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Frank and Sable

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part of the series is about Frank and Sable. Enjoy!

The litter Natasha was hoping to get Luke’s dog from doesn’t work out. None of the pups turn out to be good candidates, so Natasha contacts another breeder that should have puppies in about eight months, and arranges to look at their pups when it's time. Until then, there’s not much she can do about Luke’s dog. Frank, however…

 

Frank spent almost the entire while Sable was recovering by the dog’s side, waiting for her to feel better. When she woke up the first time, she had whined until Frank started petting her, and for the first few weeks after that, she would cry whenever Frank wasn’t in the room.

 

Eventually, Sable was cleared to go out onto the communal floor and meet the other dogs, and Natasha arranged to have her meet the dogs one by one, because Frank had gotten so overbearing about Sable’s safety around the other dogs that she’d only just barely convinced him to allow this. She did agree with him though; Sable’s last experience around other dogs was her getting attacked, so while she might be fine physically, who knows how she’s doing emotionally.

 

They had decided to have Sable meet Thelonious first, and while Stephen would deny it later, he was immensely proud that his dog was considered the best reintroduction for Sable to other dogs. They had Thelonious out of his gear and off leash in the living room before Sable got there so she could decide whether or not to even enter the room on her own.

 

Sable followed Frank into the living room, but froze, tail tucked between her legs, when she saw Thelonious. Thelonious didn’t even pay attention to her, doing tricks Stephen was asking him to do to keep him busy, and when Frank sat down on the couch not far from Stephen and Thelonious, she slowly made her way over to him, keeping Frank between her and and the other dog. Thelonious still didn’t react, and eventually Sable just curled up beside Frank, eyes still watching the other dog.

 

Over the next few weeks, Natasha and Frank kept having Sable stay in the same room with Thelonious until she was comfortable, and then they started introducing the other dogs. They brought Valor next, because out of the other dogs, Valor was the calmest. They repeated the same process for Valor, Whiskey, and Ava individually, and once they’d built up Sable’s confidence, they had her meet all four dogs at once.

 

It was slow going; Sable had a lot of confidence to regain, but she was getting better, and eventually they started to introduce the other, more energetic dogs, until Sable was comfortably interacting with the other dogs. She still got a little tense around other dogs at first, but she was never reactive, never aggressive; Natasha had to admit that she was impressed, because even the most gentle dogs can be provoked, but Sable was always gentle, always willing to be hurt rather than hurt someone.

 

* * *

 

Natasha had originally planned to train Sable without Frank knowing and present her to him fully trained, but the pair were practically inseparable, so Natasha just modified her plan. “Hey, Frank,” she calls from the kitchen, watching Frank and Sable cuddle on the couch (because, no matter what Frank might claim, they were definitely cuddling). Frank turns to look at her. “So, you and Sable get along well. Ever thought of having her trained as a service dog?” Frank snorts.

 

“No. Don’t know what she’d do for me. Besides, I don’t live the kind of life that’s safe for a dog.”

 

Natasha walks over to sit on the other couch beside him, curling up in the seat. “Well, PTSD service dogs exist, for one thing. You might also want to look into Bipolar Disorder, type 1. I think it makes sense for you. And when I talked to Jessica, she agrees that Antisocial Personality Disorder fits. You both are in that category.”

 

Frank stares at her for a minute. “What are you, a fucking shrink? Thought I was done with those pieces of shit when I got my identity changed.”

 

“No, not a licensed professional, but when I was being trained in the Red Room, one of the things we were taught to do was identify all ‘weaknesses’ in a target, and make reasonable inferences based on those observations. It wasn’t half assed training, either. I can probably diagnose more accurately than most licensed professionals.”

 

“That’s insane. But according to you, I am too, I guess. Yeah, fuck it, I guess I’ve got issues with PTSD, or something. So what’s the plan?”

 

Natasha loves how honest and realistic Frank is. She explains the plan, and they start training the next day.

 

* * *

 

Frank’s a quick learner, and Natasha actually loves working with the guy. He’s smart, practical, and he thinks ahead. Most of the stupid shit he does is motivated by emotions, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s all about how you use it.

 

So Natasha shows Frank what to do, and watches as he teaches Sable himself. They’re a flawless pair, and Frank clearly enjoys the work. Once Frank’s figured out how to train the different tasks, there’s only task that really requires Natasha’s help. It’s one she’s taught to about half of the dogs so far, and she’s mostly just there to be sure that Sable gets the task right.

 

The task is a hallucination check; it helps the handler figure out if something they’re hearing or seeing is real, or if they’re hallucinating it. The command they use for the task is “who’s there?” Natasha teaches all of the dogs this command in both English and ASL, because even though she, Clint, and Tony are currently the only ones fluent in it, sometimes the handler is too frightened to say the command out loud.

 

Sometimes, while having panic attacks or flashbacks, the handler is too scared to speak out loud, in case the person or thing they’re hallucinating is something that could hurt them, so Natasha teaches each of the handlers how to use both the English “who’s there?” as well as the signed “who?”

 

It takes 10 months to fully train Sable, and Frank spends almost all of his time working or playing with her. Natasha snaps at least three discreet pictures of the pair play wrestling. For data collection purposes only, of course. They do great together, and while Natasha’s sad to see them go, she’s glad that Frank's comfortable enough with both himself and Sable to take her home with him.

 

* * *

 

The biggest problem Frank encounters while taking Sable with him is that people judge her by appearance; she’s a 100 pound black Cane Corso, and people are quick to assume she’s dangerous, especially with Frank beside her.

 

“You can’t come in here,” the waitress at a local diner tells Frank, “only service dogs are allowed.”

 

Frank stops just inside the door. “Ma’am, excuse me if this is blunt, but are you fucking blind?”

 

The waitress looks torn between confusion and panic. “N-no?”

 

“Great, then you can read the patch on her vest. Sable, block.” Sable steps in front of Frank, left side against the front of his legs, and the waitress looks at the patches on the right side of Sable’s vest. The vest is black velcro with white trim, and the patches read “PTSD Service Dog,” “Stay Back: Handler Has Killed For Less.”

 

The waitress swallows, reaching for a menu and dropping it twice with shaky hands. “Sorry, sir, my mistake. Follow me.” Frank sits at the table, thanking her, and enjoys the rest of his meal. He’s still pleasant, courteous, but he’s not going to be forced out of places.

 

* * *

 

In another instance, Frank had actually ended up leaving the restaurant. He’d fully intended on enjoying the italian food (he missed his mom’s cooking, and while he could definitely make some damn good pasta, he couldn’t manage everything, not in his shitty little kitchenette at home), but the manager had demanded that he leave, claiming that they didn’t allow animals in.

 

“She’s a service animal,” Frank had told the manager, trying to remain calm.

 

“I don’t care what you call it, you can’t bring it in here. Take the mutt home.”

 

Frank had stood up to face the man, and he had a good 8 inches and 90 pounds on the guy, he could take him, when Sable stepped between them, pawing at Frank’s leg. “Fine,” Frank had growled, “We’re going. Expect a lawsuit.” They left, and Frank texted Natasha with the address, explaining what happened.

 

A week later, Frank found a letter someone had slid under his door and opened it to find a handwritten apology from the manager of the restaurant, as well as an offer for an entire meal, free of charge. Sable would be allowed to join him.

 

Frank went to the restaurant that night and ordered their osso buco alla Milanese, in a table in the back with Sable at his feet. The manager even came out and apologized to him directly, though he looked like it pained him to do so, but Frank didn’t particularly care. And he had to admit, the food really was as good as he was hoping it would be. The fact that it was free didn’t hurt, either.

**Author's Note:**

> Your service dog facts of the day:
> 
> -It is absolutely possible for dogs that have been attacked by people or other dogs to still be service dogs. There is a lot of retraining, confidence building, and patience needed before a dog that's been attacked will be able to safely and comfortably work as a service dog in public space, but it is possible. On the other hand, some dogs never completely recover from attacks, and if they were attacked while they were still in training or after they became a service dog, they may need to be washed out or retired, respectively, if they can't recover fully.
> 
> -While in this story, Sable was attacked by dogs in a dog fighting situation, it is unfortunately the case that service dogs or service dogs in training being attacked by untrained or undertrained dogs in public access spaces is pretty common in real life. I've discussed fake service dogs at least once before, and I want to emphasize some points here too. A "fake" service dog can include untrained pets that the owner brings into a public access area, undertrained service dogs in training that are not ready for public access, undertrained or improperly trained service dogs that know their tasks but do NOT have the minimum obedience required to be in public access, etc.
> 
> -All of those types of dogs should not be permitted in public access areas. What's really unfortunate is that there's service dog organizations in the United States who will give undertrained service dogs to people who have payed their organization for a trained service dog, and that service dog that was supposed to give their handler freedom and independence will actually cause the handler more harm than good. There are news stories of people who cannot leave their homes with their service dog because the dog is reactive towards other dogs and people and lunges on the leash when in public.
> 
> One particular news story about organizations giving badly trained service dogs can be found on Youtube [ here ](https://youtu.be/iYXiNpEfL74) (Unfortunately there are no captions on the video, I'm sorry to all of my other caption-using folks.)
> 
> The ""dog trainer"" in the video says that he thinks that service dogs that they send home with people can be traumatized on the plane ride home. While yes, planes can be a traumatizing experience, if you are charging people anywhere in the range of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for a trained service dog, then that dog should damn well be well trained, well socialized, and bombproofed. If they aren't, then you're doing something wrong as a trainer and as an organization.
> 
> And I'll leave you all with that.
> 
> If you want to see drabbles and notes related to this series or want to talk to me about this series or anything else, you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!


End file.
